1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for collecting blood whereby certain target components are isolated or removed from the blood sample at the time of collecting the blood, as well as methods of using such devices.
2. Background of the Invention
Today with the growth of proteomics, large-scale isolation and identification of proteins is becoming the focus of research, drug development and diagnostics. Protein separation methods are well-established in the molecular and biochemical arts; however, with the growth of proteomics, new technologies have arisen which require different, more stringent protein separation techniques. For example, exploring the plasma proteome requires the separation and identification of low abundance proteins and the determination of their characteristics using electrophoresis in a 2-dimensional (2D) gel system. However, plasma proteins or other components present in high concentrations, for example albumin, can hinder the separation and obscure the identification of these lower abundance proteins and, at times, make it difficult or impossible to determine their identity on 2D gels or by any other downstream testing of blood samples.
Currently, many different methods exist to remove albumin and other high abundance components from blood samples; however, most of these clean-up methods are not specific enough and may actually remove many of the desirable proteins or components. Current albumin clean-up methods, for example, require transferring the sample into another container, thus requiring additional handling steps, and increasing the risk of processing errors, sample contamination, and extra risk of operator exposure to possibly infectious blood components. Furthermore, current methods do not use any kind of specifically directed affinity molecule targeting the target components in the clean-up process, and may thus remove components of interest. Accordingly, there is a need for blood sample collection devices, methods of using such devices, and processes that eliminate the risk of error and contamination, while also providing specific isolation of target components.